Rescue effort for cash-strapped Lake Hopatcong Commission in jeopardy

View full sizeRobert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger Curt Mulch operates a weed harvester Thursday on Lake Hopatcong, where the state has taken over the summer upkeep operation.

Those hoping for the state to swoop in and rescue the Lake Hopatcong Commission from financial ruin were dealt two serious setbacks last week.

State Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris) put a hold on his own bill, which would provide $150,000 every year to the Lake Hopatcong Commission, and Gov. Christie said he had no intention of signing it even if it passed the Legislature.

Bucco still supports the measure, but realized he did not have support from Democrats.

The bill (S-495), which would have redirected money from pleasure boat registration fees, did not fail on its merits. Those were not debated during Monday’s meeting of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

Democrats, in fact, said they liked the bill, but refused to vote for it because Christie publicly chastised the committee at an earlier town hall appearance.

It’s a tit-for-tat that goes back to Christie’s desire for an income tax cut.

Democrats say the state can’t afford a tax cut. Christie responded if that’s the case, then he wouldn’t sign any new spending.

Democrats took Christie at his word and refused to vote for Bucco’s bill.

Why, Sen. Loretta Weinberg, (D-Bergen) wondered, should she support a bill the governor would veto?

"The double standard going on in the state of New Jersey, I find it personally insulting," she said during Monday’s committee hearing. "If the governor is never going to sign any bill that spends more money, then I’m not going to vote for it until I hear from the governor that he is going to sign this."

Perhaps more damaging to the bill’s chances was Christie’s reaction.

"Good move — glad they heard the message," Christie said at a Tuesday press conference in Raritan Township, following a tour of the cancer unit at Hunterdon Medical Center.

"I am not spending money at the urging of any legislator when legislators won’t pass a tax cut for the people of New Jersey."

The bill was always a long shot. Versions of the legislation have failed several times before, but the Lake Hopatcong Commission, which is always desperate for funds, has never been so close to shutting down.

Bucco’s bill had asked for $400,000, but when the state’s Department of Environmental Protection took over the lake’s weed-harvesting operation this summer, the biggest expense was been spoken for. Bucco then lowered his request to $150,000, hoping to make it more palatable.

Sen. Paul Sarlo, (D-Bergen), chairman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, applauded the measure but the governor "took this committee to task and individual members to task for any type of supplemental spending."

"I support what you are trying to do," Sarlo said. "I just don’t see the revenue coming where it is supposed to be. No legislator should ever have to be — because he puts a spending bill forward — should have to be ridiculed publicly."

The committee decided that it would hold the bill and come back with a package of spending that would benefit both Republican and Democrats, a bipartisan spending bill.

Christie promised to veto that as well.

"I don’t care if they call it lumped together, separated, bipartisan, partisan, non partisan," Christie said on Tuesday. "They can put whatever label they want on it. They can call it the ‘Justice For All Act’ I don’t care what they call it. If it is supplemental spending, prior to the passage of a tax cut for the people of New Jersey, it will be vetoed."

Bucco decried what he said was nothing more than a political game.

On the sidelines is the Lake Hopatcong Commission, which may not have enough money to continue operations into 2013.

Commission chair Russ Felter said he will have to give the commission’s lone paid employee notice and prepare to shut down at the end of the year.

"I’m frustrated beyond belief," said Felter, also mayor of Jefferson. "It’s a shame the environment and the lake are being held up by political squabbling."

The commission has a state mandate to protect Lake Hopatcong, which washes up on Hopatcong, Mount Arlington, Roxbury and Jefferson, and is represented by three state senators. Sens. Bucco and Steven Oroho (R-Sussex), a co-sponsor, reminded the committee the lake was an important resource that brought in millions of dollars and acted as a backup water source for Jersey City.

Commissioners are appointed by the four towns and two counties the lake touches, and the governor gets to send five representatives, including one each for the departments of Environmental Protection and Community Affairs.

If money isn’t found soon, Bucco said, "the Lake Hopatcong Commission is kaput."